Dear Friends in Christ,This Saturday, July 20, is the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. They crossed a frontier all those years ago that we as a country and as the human race still have not yet fully comprehended. The achievements of the astronauts and the NASA team and all the scientific developments that went into that mission were marvelous. But along with the science was a new spiritual awareness (at least for us moderns) of our place in God’s vast universe. On December 24, 1968, eighteen months earlier, the iconic “Earthrise” photo was taken by William Anders when the Apollo 8 astronauts circled the moon as a manned flight for the first time. When Aldrin, a faithful Presbyterian Christian, landed on the moon, he took Communion from consecrated bread and wine that he had carried with him. Here is a link with more details about that event: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/9-things-you-should-know-about-the-communion-service-on-the-moon/. Let us remember to give thanks this weekend for the courage, intelligence, and faith of those space pioneers.+ + + + + + +This Sunday a quartet of our choir members will sing an offertory anthem and a Communion anthem. Thank you to our faithful choir for offering their time and talent to beautify our worship and lead us in singing God’s praises.

Here are the week’s announcements:

Creation Care (Stewardship)

Rummage Drop-Off (Stewardship)

Welcome Sunday Picnic (Parish Life)

STEWARDSHIPRummage Drop-off will begin Sunday, August 4 in the Parish Hall. What do we take? Good, useful, clean items that you can no longer use: furniture, house wares, linens, electronics, garden/lawn tools, toys, children’s books, holiday items, small appliances, boutique items, etc. We don’t take tube TVs, tires, broken items, large appliances, pull-out couches, entertainment centers and other over-sized furniture, shoes, clothes or hardcover books for grown-ups. Right now we need people to volunteer to help sort and price rummage (in air-conditioned comfort!) throughout August and September. To volunteer, please be in touch with Kimberly Celeste. Sale date: September 28. Thanks!

Summer Finances – we always have a cash flow slow-down during the summer as people are traveling and on vacation. If you can keep current with your pledges and contributions it would help greatly! In addition to putting a check in the mail or in the office mail slot in the Rath House, you can set up a direct payment through your bank to All Saints’ Church, or sign up for EFT. For information about these options, please speak with Barbara Barbeau. Thank you. ~ The Finance Committee

Creation Care Team will meet this Wednesday, July 24 at 7:00 pm in the Rath House. We’ll be continuing our conversation about the ways we can be better stewards of God’s creation and resources, starting with our own habits and practices here at All Saints’. Anyone with interest is welcome to join us!

ShopRite Cards Available – when you buy a ShopRite gift card for yourself or someone else the user gets the full face value and All Saints’ gets 5%. Cards are available on Sunday from Barb Barbeau or in the Parish office Mondays & Thursdays.

CHRISTIAN FORMATIONBible Study this week, Wed. at 10:15 am in the Rath House. We’ll discuss Chapter 16 of Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense by N.T. Wright – “New Creation Starting Now.” This will be our last meeting for the summer, so we’ll also think about what part of the Bible or what topic to study when we meet again on September 4. Questions? Speak to Mother Vicki.WORSHIPCharlie Hogan’s funeral will be this Saturday, July 20 at 11 am. It will be followed by a reception in the Parish Hall. Please keep Charlie’s children Mike, Kathleen, and Chuck and their families in your prayers.

August Schedule – during the month of August when the Rector is on vacation our Sunday worship and worship leaders will be as follows:8/4 Holy Eucharist – the Rev. Shawn Carty8/11 Holy Eucharist – the Rev. Shawn Carty; Sr. Monica Clare preaching at 10 am8/18 Holy Eucharist – the Rev. Shawn Carty8/25 Morning Prayer – LEMs

PARISH LIFESummer Refreshments after our 10 am worship are served on the lawn - iced tea, lemonade, cookies. Please join us for this enjoyable time of conversation and friendship with parishioners and visitors. And if you see someone you’ve not met before, introduce yourself!

Welcome Sunday Picnic, September 8 – Gather with fellow parishioners for a new school year/program year get-together after the 10 am service. We’ll grill hot dogs and veggie burgers; you bring a salad, side, or dessert. New this year: we are sending invitations to our neighbors (with an RSVP) and we hope they will want to join us. Please sign-up on the sheet in the Narthex, and let us know what you will be bringing, or e-mail the Parish Office at allstsmill@hotmail.org.AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOODBlood Drive at St. Mark’s, Basking Ridge – next Sunday, July 21 from 9 am- 2 pm the Red Cross will hold a Blood Drive in St. Mark’s Parish Hall, 140 South Finley Avenue. Call 1-800-RED-CROSS or go to RedCrossBlood.org and enter St. Marks to schedule an appointment. This event is co-sponsored by Congregation B’nai Israel.

DIOCESAN NEWSStill trying to plan a summer getaway? Cross Roads, our diocesan camp and conference center in Port Murray, NJ, has openings for Family Camp Week and Family Camp Weekend at the end of August (8/18-8/23 & 8/23-8/25). Kids stay in cabins, adults stay in the Christ Center, meals are served in the dining hall. Fun camp activities and faith-building experiences in a beautiful outdoor setting. Take a look at their website for more info: www.crossroadsretreat.com.

Bishop’s Message: “Immigration, the Bible, and our Baptismal Covenant.” This has been a summer of intense news and strong feelings about immigrants and the events taking place on our southern border. Here is our Bishop Carlye Hughes’ reflection in a short video: https://dioceseofnewark.org/. It’s on the diocesan home page, so scroll down a little bit to watch it.

PARISH CALENDAR7/20Hogan Funeral Church & Parish Hall, 11:00 am7/24 Bible Study Rath House, 10:15 am7/24Creation Care Team Rath House, 7:00 amFor a full schedule of our buildings check the website calendar www.allsaintsmillington.org.CHRISTIAN PRACTICESThe Way of Love: Bless – There are many ways to bless one another and those we come across throughout our day. But have you ever considered that your practice of stewardship might be a blessing to others?When we practice taking care of God’s Creation, and act as good stewards of our natural and man-made resources we help to ensure that others have clean water to drink, clean air to breathe, that our “foot print” on the planet does not take up more resources than we need, and that there will be resources available for other people as they need them. That is certainly a blessing.

Our financial stewardship, also, is a way to bless others. When we share our God-given financial resources, those things that the Lord has put into our hands to care for on God’s behalf, we make it possible for others to share in a community of faith, to participate in outreach, to have a place of beauty and fellowship in which to worship and welcome those who are seeking a connection to God. The way we use our money can be a blessing to others, as well as to ourselves.

Here are six values or practices that are characteristics of Christian stewards (as outlined by Charles R. Lane in “Ask, Thank, Tell”). Some of values may seem more surprising or challenging than others. And yet they are all things that we can get better at the more we practice them:

Be intentional – develop a plan for giving and then follow through with the plan.

Be regular – weekly, monthly, quarterly. Having a schedule helps create a habit.

Be generous – God is so generous to us, and when we give generously we become more like God.

Be a “first-fruits” giver – means giving to God first before we take care of our other expenses and “nice-to-haves.”

Be a percentage giver – God only asks us to do what we can do, not what someone else can do; but a way to be honest with ourselves is to understand what percentage or proportion of our income we are giving to God.

Be a cheerful giver – this comes from learning to trust God and to remember that we are all part of God’s big family of faith

As we practice both environmental and financial stewardship we will surely be a blessing to others – and may well find ourselves blessed in the doing of it!